Inspector General releases report on gambling raid at city yard

Baltimore Inspector General has released his final report on last year's gambling raid at a Department of Transportation yard. Nearly a dozen workers were arrested, but prosecutors got just one conviction, prompting critics to say the operation was overblown.

I interviewed David DeCarlo in January who said he was not involved in the gambling but was caught up as a bystander (read story here). He was fighting to get his job back. The IG, David N. McClintock, defended the raid to me in January:

If gambling "was going on and it's not anymore, then it was worth it. ... The day everybody is happy with what we're doing is the day we're not doing something right."

The report released this week reads much the same as reports that emerged after the raid -- that police and members of McClintock's team found a group of people gambling and drinking in a break room during working hours, and that at least one man assaulted an inspector. Some tried to flee through a roof, and others ran away but were later caught.

The division chief of the special events yard was fired, city officials say, and this is what the IG said turned up in the administration building, at 1:45 p.m. on a Friday:

12-pack of BUD ICE with three beers remaining in the refrigerator in the Division Chief’s office.

1 discarded BUD ICE beer can on the top of the wastebasket located next to the Division Chief’s desk.

A bottle of Grey Goose vodka along with a 2 liter bottle of Schweppes Ginger-Ale sitting openly on the stove in the lunch room located approximately 10 feet from the Division Chief’s office.

An empty BUD ICE beer can on the table located in the same lunch room noted in #3 above.

The report says authorities found this on the break room floor:

Five dice on the floor.A pile of money on the floor; a total of $6339 was seized.11The pile of money was circled around a bottle of champagne (Remy).A bottle of low fortified wine (Wild Irish Rose).A video playing on TV.

The report goes on to say:

"Additionally, the [Baltimore police] recovered a loaded .22 caliber handgun magazine from one of the two prisoner transport vans. The BPD’s Check/Fraud and Vice units handled the crime scene and collected the magazine into evidence (ECU #11014502). The BPD was unable to locate any corresponding handgun or link the handgun magazine to any of the employees who worked at the Special Events Yard."